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The Fledgling Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

The Fledgling Fund

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$986k
Granted FY2024still arriving
55
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$1.1MPhilanthropy$962kInternational$575kHealth$560kHousing & Shelter$313kYouth Development$205kEnvironment$187kEducation$169kOther$0
02FY2024 · 55 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k26 grants · $71k
  • $10k–50k24 grants · $568k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $347k
$10,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$2.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MARTHA'S VINEYARD HOSPITAL$100,000
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART$82,000
THE LORD'S PLACE$65,000
KING BAUDOUIN FOUNDATION UNITED STATES$50,000
ACUMEN FUND INC$50,000
FAMILIES FIRST OF PALM BEACH COUNTY$40,000
EVERGLADES FOUNDATION$40,000
HEALTHY MOTHERS HEALTHY BABIES COALITION OF PBC$40,000
LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF PALM BEACH COUNTY$40,000
HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA$39,000
SHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION$28,000
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR JOURNALIST$27,500
CIRCUIT ARTS$26,000
ISLAND HOUSING TRUST CORPORATION$25,000
GIRL RISING$25,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY23–24, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES: $1k → 8%MARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES: $1k → 8%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WI
MI
NY
MA
WY
PA
CA
UT
MO
DE
NC
DC
AL
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

53%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.3M · 40 repeat orgs$2.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +38% for those funded once.

40 repeat relationships: 37 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

40
41

Total granted

$2.3M
$1.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+38%

Still filing today

85%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $317k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’23’24
Arts & CulturePhilanthropyInternationalEducationEnvironmentHousing & ShelterOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • AF
    ACUMEN FUND INC
    2× · 2020–2024 · $425k · revenue +61%
  • THE EVERGLADES FOUNDATION INC
    3× · 2020–2024 · $110k · revenue +115%
  • MM
    METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
    2× · 2020–2024 · $107k · revenue +119%

Funded once

  • AF
    ACUMEN FUND (SCHEDULE ATTACHED)
    one grant, 2021 · $851k
  • HS
    HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
    one grant, 2023 · $135k
  • M
    MIRACLEFEET
    one grant, 2023 · $125k · revenue -39%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
The Paris Review Foundation Inc

The mission of the organization is to foster the development of creative individuals as writers and artists and to promote public appreciation of excellence in the literary and graphic arts by publishing a magazine containing fiction,…

Education
2
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
3
Museum of Arts and Design

To collect, display and interpret objects in craft art and design.

Arts & Culture
4
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
5
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
6
Rhode Island School of Design

The mission of rhode island school of design, through its college and museum,is to educate its students and the public in the creation and (see schedule o)appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to…

Education
7
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
8
Public Media Nj Inc

To bring quality public television programs and resources to communities throughout new jersey and its tri-state neighbors. its content, both on-air and online, aims to reflect the diverse

Arts & Culture
9
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
10
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
11
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
12
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Center for Cultural Power; the most unlike its peers is The Argosy Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

77 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 77 of the 101 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
75/77
Grantees still filing
51/77
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ACUMEN FUND (SCHEDULE ATTACHED): $851,395 · OtherACUMEN FUND (SCHEDULE ATTACHED)HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: $135,000 · OtherHARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTHMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $100,000 · OtherMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATEDTown of Palm Beach United Way Inc: $80,000 · OtherISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD: $113,500 · OtherISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD+47 more: $581,619 · Other+47 moreHISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $313,000 · Arts & CultureHISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMER…METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $107,000 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF A…The Society of the Four Arts Inc: $82,800 · Arts & CultureThe Society of the Four …NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $68,350 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTO…CIRCUIT ARTS INC: $53,500 · Arts & CultureCIRCUIT ARTS INCSundance Institute: $50,362 · Arts & CultureINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureCHICKEN & EGG FILMS INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureTHE FINCA VIGIA FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 · Arts & Culture+17 more: $142,470 · Arts & Culture+17 moreACUMEN FUND INC: $425,000 · InternationalACUMEN FUND INCGirl Rising: $151,000 · InternationalGirl RisingMYRIAD USA INC: $90,000 · InternationalMYRIAD USA INCTHE INT'L CENTER FOR JOURNALISTS INC: $40,000 · InternationalTHE INT'L CENTER F…+2 more: $12,200 · InternationalTHE LORD'S PLACE INC: $237,174 · Housing & ShelterISLAND HOUSING TRUST CORPORATION: $75,000 · Housing & Shelter+1 more: $1,000 · Housing & ShelterMIRACLEFEET: $125,000 · HealthTHE INSTITUTE FOR ETHNOMEDICINE INC DBA BRAIN CHEMISTRY LABS: $100,000 · HealthHealthy MothersHealthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County Inc: $40,000 · HealthTHE EVERGLADES FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 · EnvironmentSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION: $57,000 · EnvironmentREDFORD CENTER INC: $15,000 · Environment+1 more: $4,500 · EnvironmentPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $125,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $15,000 · EducationAMERICAN COLLEGE OF THE BUILDING ARTS: $10,000 · EducationThe Eisenhower Project Inc: $10,000 · EducationBARNARD COLLEGE: $10,000 · EducationHER JUSTICE INC: $7,500 · Education+1 more: $5,000 · Education
Other$1,861,514Arts & Culture$952,482International$718,200Housing & Shelter$313,174Health$265,000Environment$186,500Education$182,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetACUMEN FUND INC: $425,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetHISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $313,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetTHE LORD'S PLACE INC: $237,174 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetGirl Rising: $151,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetMIRACLEFEET: $125,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $125,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetISLAND GROWN INITIATIVE LTD: $113,500 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetTHE EVERGLADES FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $107,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE INSTITUTE FOR ETHNOMEDICINE INC DBA BRAIN CHEMISTRY LABS: $100,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetMYRIAD USA INC: $90,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Society of the Four Arts Inc: $82,800 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetTown of Palm Beach United Way Inc: $80,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetISLAND HOUSING TRUST CORPORATION: $75,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $68,350 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MARSHALL PROJECT INC: $61,200 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSHERIFF'S MEADOW FOUNDATION: $57,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCIRCUIT ARTS INC: $53,500 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetSundance Institute: $50,362 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCHICKEN & EGG FILMS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLegal Aid Society of Palm Beach County Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHealthy MothersHealthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE INT'L CENTER FOR JOURNALISTS INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetPalm Beach Civic Association Inc: $35,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetTHE FINCA VIGIA FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 over 3y, 8.0% of budgetNAPA MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $27,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWorkingFilms Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetUTAH FILM CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetURBAN COMMUNICATIONS GROUP: $25,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetFILM INDEPENDENT: $23,350 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHENRY J KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION: $22,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMartha's Vineyard Donors Collaborative Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD PRESERVATION TRUST INC: $18,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR CULTURAL POWER: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetREDFORD CENTER INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIRELIGHT MEDIA INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN COLLEGE OF THE BUILDING ARTS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWOMEN DONORS NETWORK: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDOCUMENTARY PRODUCERS ALLIANCE: $10,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetAdopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Eisenhower Project Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetBARNARD COLLEGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDOC SOCIETY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMARTHA'S VINEYARD FILM SOCIETY INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetAPERTURE FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Ford FoundationThe Bessemer Giving F…The Goldman Sachs Cha…The New York Communit…Martha's Vineyard Ban…The San Francisco Fou…The Peter and Elizabe…John D and Catherine …Boston Foundation IncThe Stanton Family Fo…Perspective Media Ini…Gretchen V & Samuel M…
The Ford FoundationNY22.9× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ford Foundation · The Bessemer Giving Fund · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · The New York Community Trust · Martha's Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · The Peter and Elizabeth C Tower Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · The Stanton Family Foundation · Perspective Media Initiatives Inc · Gretchen V & Samuel M Feldman Private Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Fledgling Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Fledgling Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 100%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • The Finca Vigia Foundation Inc: 39% of income from government
  • The Lord's Place Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Martha's Vineyard Community Services Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Sheriff's Meadow Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • Center for Creative Education: 2% of income from government
  • Martha's Vineyard Playhouse Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Martha's Vineyard Film Society Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Island Housing Trust Corporation: 1% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Circuit Arts Inc: 1% of income from government
  • South Florida Pbs Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
10get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Fledgling Fund?

Find your warmest path to The Fledgling Fund through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 101 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Fledgling’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home